Crow Woman

Bracelet..sort of

2012-01-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

I put this together with a friend in mind. She wears a hanky around her wrist that is similar in color to the ones I chose for the crazy quilt background. I had hoped to make something that would be uplifting and wearable. The glitch is that the printer ink that I used on the fabrics to get the fonts I wanted, isn't water proof. I like the way it looks, but the fit is rather large, and because of the ink, it isn't really practical for wear able art. So it's back to the drawing board to keep hashing away at the idea

Kumihimo -weaving cord

2011-12-29T17:43:00.000-08:00

""Kumihimo cord was first created by a form of finger-loop braiding. Later tools such as the marudai and the takadai were employed to make more complex braids in shorter time. The most prominent historical use of the cords was by samurai as both a functional and decorative way to lace their lamellar armour and their horses' armor (barding). Kumihimo cords are now used as ties on haori jackets and obijimes, which are used for tying on an obi (kimono sash).""

I recently started helping my sister with her horse hair jewelry orders.

Trick Horse Jewelry

Along with several kinds of braiding, she uses the art of kumihimo as well. New to me, I have discovered a new form of meditation. Fun stuff! Have to set it aside, so I can get caught up on my christmas requests.
Horse hair kumihimo.

The Raven in action!

2011-11-01T17:29:00.001-07:00

RAVEN- finished, packaged and out the door

2011-10-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

Aubs, my niece requested a Raven costume for halloween this year. Kudos to her for using her imagination and having the chutzpah to know where to go for it and ask! Neat kid!
Breaking it down:
*papier mache infrastructure
*fabric laid over it and hot glued
*embellished with yarn, painted cardboard, fabric, and feathers
*painted button eyes
*fabric covered cardboard wings and tail
* cape with fabrics feathers and strips attached

The house feels a little empty without him around any more :(
She's gonna flip!
Fun project

Full Moon Owl Medicine Bag for Etsy

2011-09-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Gonna put a few together and throw them up on Etsy, and see if any sell.
This is the first one.
Etsy

Medicine Bags

2011-09-21T16:49:00.000-07:00

B Bag- laid out

B Bag- open

B Bag- pulled

Green Matrix Bag-laid out

Green Matrix Bag- open

Green Matrix Bag- pulled

Pink Rabbit- open

Pink Rabbit- pulled...Dr Zhivago eat your heart out...Lara rather LOL

Leopard print...No, wait....

Leopard Print Wild Woman Bag- open

Leopard Print Wild Woman Bag-pulled

Silk wrap around Lounge Pants

2011-08-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have a pair of wrap around lounge pants that were gifted to me some years ago from my friend Lee Spears. They are the most comfortable and cool hot weather pants I own. The original pair was made in Indonesia out of a very light cotton fabric. Unfortunately, that makes for a weak structure, and I had to mend them the first day I wore them. Still, I love them, and so does everyone else, so I have embarked on a new adventure in sewing. I made a pattern from the originals, and by digging through my collection of remnant silks and sundries, I am creating one of a kind sensations. We can rebuild them, we have the technology. Here's the first of the new "make you feel like a million dollars" lounge pants.

Let Me Sum Up

2011-08-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't been working on much art physically, but there has been plenty floating around in my head. I just sold Hecate, one of the goddess pieces I made a few months ago, so I find my self a bit revived in the creative zone. I have been making costumes, and clothing.
Hmmm, so, I haven't posted in nearly 3 months...
Let Me Sum Up
Water Babies. The ducklings grew up and moved outside. I lost Rebecca to an owl a couple weeks ago. Actually confronted him and took her back from his clutches, she rallied, but fell three days later from infection.

June was a month of beginnings, and critter visits. First the month opened with a blue bird trapped in the chimney. "Happiness" trapped in a dark place, well you better let it out! That was the message I got from that, and am still running with that ball!

This is Luna with her first clutch of eggs in June. The chickens went broody, failed to hatch anything, and have only just started laying again. Free roam might have something to do with the laying issue, as well as the heat of summer.
I will only hint at what "fresh hell" the experience of cleaning up midnight diarrhea in the laundry room was, after the dogs raided a nest of rotten eggs.... no, I will let you imagine.

Not the best picture, but my favorite, of an American Bittern chick, hiding in the north swamp.

goldfinches- I also have grossbeaks, chickadees, mourning doves, junkos, robins, yeah, and the owl. The critter activity after the long quiet of winter was very engaging.

These guys showed up at o dark hundred, screaming. I kid you not. The best we could figure was that they were a gypsy band of Ravens. They hit the neighborhood for the season. Completely different call than any of the locals, and party town, party down! They went from homestead to homestead driving humans and their critters nutty for several weeks before they settled down. Hands down, the loudest and most raucous group of birds I have ever encountered!

July turned into a month of dogs, horses, dogs, horses, and did I mention dogs and horses?
This is 4/5 of my holiday dogsitting crew, the pappillion spent most of the time officiating from under the couch.

EBAN- a rescued pony- He was abandoned in a cattle pasture as a youngster, and has found his way to me. He spent the first 2 weeks after being gelded at my sisters, while we got fences ready at my place. A week at boarding facility, then back to my sister's for a week, then to my place. Hell of a month for him, but he's doing well, sassy and sweet. A little ribby now with all the excitement, but I expect he'll put on a bit of weight when he finds his routine here.

My adopted niece Manon visiting, and meeting Eban and Whitey (My sister's 12 yr old Spanish Mustang, who has now also come to live with me. He's a spirit horse (Medicine Hat), and we "get" each other, so she wants me to have him)

Mid-July =Maniacal drive from North Central Minnesota to South Texas to pick up Bug, a Tennessee Stud, did it in 4 days, Whoa! My sister saved him certain death when he was a baby, he had got himself trapped in a tank and was going to be put down, several weeks of TLC and getting up every 3 hours to lift him up with a crane and harness to make him walk around (now, there's a bond!)
Through flood...(No Dak, IA, NE)

and drought...(KS,OK,TX)

To Bug, and back again. This is funny, he's been running wild for over a year now, and no-one has been able to catch him. We drove into the property and had him in the trailer faster than the neighbor could hop in his truck and come see. LOL ( did I mention the bond my sis has with this horse?)

And it's musical corrals! Put him there, that one over there, and bring these guys here... Whew! Everybody's tired!

Another newbie- Boo kitty, dumped in the country and found his way here.

The Bug. Decked out in training gear, on his way to being Karen's smoooooooth ride! Just days after the move. That bond again LOL

2011-05-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

The Snow is Gone

Excellent Misdirection!

2011-04-30T06:50:00.000-07:00

LOVEFIELD

Ducks and Taxes

2011-04-26T05:06:00.000-07:00

After an intense couple of weeks focused on completing art pieces, the rest of the month has been regulated to yard work, and organizing. Sort of a spring cleaning brought on by tax season and the new experience of being self employed, and all the surprises that entails.
I started laying out the path of the labyrinth out in the back woods. Raking up sticks ...everywhere, and moving the straw bales away from the house to start preparing them for mulch, and straw bale raised beds.

My sister arrived with four Khaki Campell ducklings the same day I had moved the bales. I guess this was a pre-emptive move against me getting muscovies. They looked just like the giant mice that had taken up residence in the bales, so directly to the locked bathroom they went. The dogs had been participating in a "mousacre", and I feared for the ducklings to start with, but everyone is used to each other now.

4-16-2011-This wasn't necessary. LOL ..at least it melted off soon

Luna eggs. She's the little white banty, and has yet to lay an egg with a yolk in it. I got laughed at naming a chicken Luna, (I guess because chickens are so associated with the sun). I have been calling her yolkless eggs moon eggs.

I am still moving bales, and last night I spread lime all over in anticipation of rain predicted for this week. At least they changed the forecast, they were talking snow again on May 1st and 2nd. I hope to throw seed out by then. I have a couple bags of rye just to get something in the ground, to keep things from eroding. I can landscape around it once I have that started.
And finally, a wee bit of art for the end of the month, a garter for one of the neighbor girls. Prom is this weekend, so I said I could put something together for her.

Snow is out, friends for the weekend

2011-04-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Midna hanging by the fire.

Got my flame spirea thawed from the ground and brought it home. Doesn't look like much yet, but it is still alive. This plant has travelled with me through four locations in that planter. A well travelled shrubbery for sure. Will have to keep Gellies away from it and plant many other things he can gnaw on.

Figured out the center of the back woods for the labyrinth in February, and marked it this weekend. Michelle visited and got the whole tour of the property, and I started taking "before" pictures.

Gelly followed us out into the woods, and met us at the center, cute!

One of my christmas cactus' bloomed the last day Michelle was here.

And finally, I completed a flask for my bosses birthday.

Amaterasu

2011-04-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

Amaterasu, is a sun goddess of Japan.
Her story is a similar one to Persephone, who is the next goddess I will make. Amaterasu is a weaver, and the story goes, that her brother (god of the moon) was jealous. He killed her favorite horse and threw it's body into her weaving room. She ran to a cave where she maintained a great depression about the whole thing. After a time, crops started to fail, and the world began to die without it's sun. Several of the other gods and goddesses came to try and cheer her up, and had no luck, until Uzume came with her drum and began to play and dance. Amaterasu recovered, the lands revived, and the rift between brother and sister is why the moon and the sun generally avoid one another.

I started working on Amaterasu, Hecate, and Kali all at once, earlier in March, just after the Sunami. During that time I acquired a drum. I didn't read the story of Uzume until after that. Kind of a surprise and delight. I picked Amaterasu, a her energy seemed hopeful and bright considering Japan's situation, and I wanted to focus on that brightness. I find it interesting that in my prayers for Japan, I was not only gifted with a sacred drum, but lifted from this long stillness of winter.
This morning I let the dogs out and was greeted from calls from cranes, robins, and a turkey gobble. The influx of birds other than crows has finally arrived, and morning has a song of life to it.

Kali and Hecate

2011-04-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the first two finished pieces that I have completed in a while.
Kali is a perfect example of the "stealing" mentioned in the article I posted earlier today.
I was wrapping up the details on Kali, and I put in, The Waiting City, a story of a couple going to India to adopt a child. I thought a movie about India would create nice ambiance. (I listen while I stitch and look up when it sounds important.) At some point the screen froze, and I looked up. I don't know how long I stared at the screen, but I remember musing on how mesmerizing tv screens are. Usually it's the activity, but in this case it was the stillness. I noticed the colors, and again fell into musing. I found myself thinking "I needed to do something in those colors", then I caught myself, the piece I was working on has those colors. I enjoyed the serendipity of the whole thing, but I kind of had to wonder at how tranced out I get when I am working. LOL.

Anyways, I incorporated not only the colors, but the image as well. Butterflies are symbols of metamorphosis and transformation. In the movie they were praying to Durga, one of the mother goddesses. Kali can be aspect of Durga. Both are benevolent goddesses, but Kali is a goddess of time and change and is a bit darker with her warrior personality. I thought the butterflies a good segue between the two energies of change and renewal.
So this is the back side of Kali.

Here she is finished.

And Hecate, goddess of the crossroads.

Great Article

2011-04-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

How to steal like an artist

March: in a nutshell

2011-03-31T13:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get in at least one post before the month was over. I have been busy, but this winter has been full of starting projects, getting distracted and starting more. The end result is the illusion that I haven't accomplished anything. I took this last week off work in order to finish a few things I have been working on, and I hope to post that work tomorrow...No Fools!
Anyways, March:
BIG MOON

BAD FELTING

GOOD FOOD

OLD BASKET

NEW TOY

and wait for it....
More Snow

General News

2011-02-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

Home Sweet Home!
I picked up seed catalogs at dad's last night. We talked about sugar maples, Moscow Beauties, and the local habitat catalog from the county. Theres lots of room for new trees. The lilacs will go on the west side of the porch to provide some privacy, and the maples to the south to help shade the house. I have already noticed with the young sun heating up, that the house is warmer in the day time, and I can smell the metal in the screen door heat up. Summer might be a bear. He also has a bunch of plants in his gardens to cull, so I can start my first decorative garden up round the front of the porch. And finally, the old shed I used to store stuff in has been given to me for the chickens! Looking forward to spring, and getting more aquainted with the land.

In regards to staying warm, the answer is yes. For the most part... yesterday I got up to potty the dogs and it was -23 F, I was over it, but it's heading into mid February and I think I can say that the bitter cold spells will be easing off.

I have a wood stove, love it, but I don't use it too often. I suspect that I will next year, once I have inspected the chimney and roof this summer. Mostly I just get her going when guests come to make it more hospitable. I keep the house at about 62, I keep the parlor closed off with quilts unless I have the stove going. I would like to upgrade my furnace to propane at some point, it's so much cleaner than fuel oil. It's such a disappointment to step outside for fresh air, and have the wind be just so, that it smells like your standing next to a bus. GACK!

Brenda & Shambala stopped by for an evening, it was a blast to hang out and play show and tell. It's the three musketeers!

There's been a few warm days here and there. This was one of them. I am riding my sisters horse White Cloud (Whitey), he's a Spanish Mustang.
All winter long I have had suet and seed out for the birds, and they still haven't found me, just the crows and ravens, LOL. This last warm spell though, I heard a pair of blue jays coming through the trees, squirrels chittering, and in the evening there were owls out calling to on another. It's fun to listen to things thawing and unfolding.

This is me and Champ. He's a percheron/morgan cross who drives, but has no job. He's an odd size (smallish) and has no team-mate so no-one uses him. He is a pocket pony, so my sister and I are going to mess about with him and see how he goes driving on his own (word is the amish used him for a season, he's a puller, and when he's been hooked up in a team he's bomb proof, he just wants to see you so bad, he's craning his head around backwards all the time) Anyways I am thinking about him, I could use the help on the place. Have 20 acres of brush to clear, I am going to build a labyrinth in the woods, tons of gardens, etc. Figure its a smaller footprint to adopt/buy a lonely work horse and work him, than buy a tractor/tiller/lawn mower :)
We'll see:)

Shadow Mirrors

2011-02-06T05:28:00.001-08:00

I am calling these shadow mirrors. Balance was the theme as the new year came in, and I gave alot of thought to perspectives and duality: good/bad, light/dark, happy/sad, and so on.
One of my favorite metaphors is about the Thunderbirds. A great storm comes in, and depending on your perspective, that storm may be deemed for evil or for good. The farmer who's crops are watered after the long dry spell may think it's a god send, yet the traveller who gets delayed may think ill of the storm, yet it is the same storm.
By detaching myself from a narrow perspective, say by breathing mindfully, I can look at the whole, and find my center. I find the I am must less likely to be blown hither and yon by the emotional content of a skinny drama if I breath in the entire experience and approach it with acceptance.
These mirrors are my meditation.

Detail on the light mirror.

Detail on the dark mirror.

And a bit of silliness, or perhaps another line of product, Bling for your Baby! A collar the Tudors would be proud of:)
My next mirror is going to be The Green Man.
I also have ink for my printer now, so that I can get hoppin on the Augury again soon.

The show, the snow, the Uh oh...

2011-01-17T05:34:00.000-08:00

My sister called and wanted to go down to the opening at the Textile center. I hadn't been thinking I would go, but she offered to drive, so Woo Hoo! They were predicting 1-3 inches of the white stuff, but it still seemed doable. The problem was the wind. In short we were running late, and right about the time we hit the interstate and thought we would be making up time, there was a pile up. Didn't appear as anyone was too banged up, but there were some 50 cars snarled in it. They made everyone get off the highway, and we were off on a 2 hour tour of the back roads. Needless to say, we missed the opening. We did stop by at the Textile center the next day, and had a look at the show. It was lovely, and I feel honored to be among such fine artists. Then we did some shopping at the weavers guild.
It was a weaving weekend. We stayed with Marian, an expert weaver, and were treated to go see her studio and work on Sat.

Marian's magnificent weaving. Linen towels!
here's her Etsy site: Vavaveve

My stash for more crows. I forgot to register for the BJP for 2011, but I will be busy with finishing up the Augury, and many other projects that have been sitting. So many creations and so little time.

Home again, home again. I loved the wild unexpected tour of weaving, and visiting the cities, but I loved coming home just as much. I finally have the studio up and running, and a ton of inspiration to get going on all these pieces I have lined up.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-25T06:40:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a great holiday!
I've been immersed in settling in and repairs to the house all month, and the book has been in set aside for awhile. I couldn't finish it for the show so I am just showing one page. Here's a Christmas gift I wasn't expecting. I thought I might be a part of a montage of all the artists, but it's just me. What an honor!

Karen's Christmas Hat. Just thought you might like to see it runs in our genes. My sister stopped by spreading cheer, and was wearing this spectacular piece. Oh Tannen-tam!

Here's my Christmas present to me and Bijou. Puppy Tia! Picked her up at a rescue earlier this month, now Bijou has someone to play with and keep her company when I am at work.

Again, Happy Holidays!

HOME SWEET HOME!!!!

2010-11-27T05:33:00.000-08:00

SUNRISE FROM MY KITCHEN WINDOW

Got moved over the holiday, no sub-zeros or snow storms could stop me. Of course my friends and family don't have the arctic acclimation I have, so yes, they were not happy about it, LOL! I know who loves me!
It's an unpacked disaster, but I have electric, and internet.. a bit like my camp situation, but now I have a heated room, and I have located my down comforters, so to me it's the Caribbean! LOL!
The heat has been hooked up, and I think we are gonna test the furnace today, all goes well there I will have heat and water by next week. Each thing I fix, I love it more! Dorothy planted three baby Silver Maples in the yard, and I have been blessed with visits from rabbits, deer, a golden eagle, and yesterday the cedar wax wings arrived. They were at my friends as I have no fruit for them, but magical nonetheless. Picked up seed for the feeders, and I also have suet. Gonna have to try the hot water trick to get the shepherd's hook in for the feeders. The ground isn't totally froze yet, and it will be warm this weekend.
Family is coming to see today, storms halted the travel for Thanksgiving, so it's late visits... and a new kitchen table and dishes from my sister. Lots to do today. :)

Here's a peek at my November work. Frosty! 9 for Silver/ Billy goats gruff, totally appropriate! Gonna hit the grindstone after the weekend. Have to finish the book for the show at the textile center.
I was a finalist for the Jerome Grant, but I wasn't awarded it this year. Two of my friends were though! Brenda Brousseau you all know, and Kim Mathews. Very cool!
Frankly I was a bit relieved about the grant, all the deadlines I have been keeping, and the new home, I am just whipped. Putting more obligations directly in my path would have been doable, but in my heart of hearts, I want to play with landscape art, and build my labyrinth out in the woods. I wonder how I will incorporate the landscaping/gardens into a new BJP book... a whole new adventure!

Trick and Treat

2010-10-31T09:07:00.001-07:00

Tricks first. 7 for a Wish is still too underdeveloped for posting. I originally thought it would be the little mermaid, but after I started the Fisherman piece, I realized that that would be two seascapes right next to each other and I didn't care for that. I decided on Aladdin and have been plincking away on that. How do you make a genie not look like Mr. Clean? That is the question. LOL

So we are going to skip a beat here. 8 for a Kiss is close enough to complete I am posting it. I had the Frog Prince idea underway in Aug. but I didn't want it to be Disneyfied. As I was contemplating who the princess would be, my Dad's surgery preparations began. My sister and my niece took Dad down to Mayo Clinic in Rochester for his initial check ins. One of the stories she told me was that she and Aubrey (see Easter Dragons) went into a bathroom on the grounds. As they were leaving, they were met at the door buy a Saudi woman in a burka coming in. Aubrey has never seen such a thing. They woman said "hello" to Aubs, who without missing a beat responded with a beaming "HI!" The woman gasped, brought her fingertips to her mouth, kissed them and then put her kiss delicately on Aubry's cheek. The princess was born.
I brought this page with me when I took Dad down for his surgery. There is a bead shop just blocks from the hospital, The Nordic Gypsy. I bought all my beads for the well there. The idea of a well has always seemed a healing energy for me, the water itself, and the central location it holds in villages and towns. It was the page I brought with me every time I went down there with Dad. I have been calling this the Healing page.
And finally, it seemed really appropriate to wrap it up this week, as I have been recovering from a tooth extraction, "ISH", but everything happens for a reason, so I have been embracing the experience.

My goal was to have more done by Halloween, but this will do. There's a few threads to wrap up, quilting on the bottom left, and the cats ran away with one of my tubes, so I will have to finish the bottom of the well later too.
It's been freezing at night, so it's only in the 20's and 30's in the day, and I am still camping. Hopefully I will get moved in soon and I can work on the detail work with warm fingers.
Other good news, the Textile Center got hold of me this week and asked for High Definition photos of my pages for Promotional photos for the show. I haven't actually received a notice that the Augury is in the show, but I think I made it.
Happy Halloween everyone, have a piece of candy for me! :)

Five for Heaven/The Fisherman and His Wife + Six for Bliss/The Princess and the Pea ***the home stretch

2010-10-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

These are the first of the summer pieces. They all sort of blurred together, (#'s 5,6,7,&8) both in themes and how I started working on them. Putting together parts of all of them through out the summer, while I made arrangements to be ready for the land agreement.

Five for Heaven/The Fisherman and his Wife.
I have nearly finished Five. Back to not being able to find the last elements. I want to edge the Potential Bubbles with the same yellow beads that are in the magic fish, and I am contemplating some sort of yellow glow around the fisherman to enhance his figure, but I am not convinced that I will do it. I like that he is blended a bit into his surroundings. I've also noticed that the crow on the fishing shack looks too much like a chimney, gonna have to remedy that also.

Technically, this is the May page. Right about the time I was looking at properties. So the idea of potentials was up, but I especially like the story ending. The fisherman's wife decided she wants to be God, and ends up back in the fishing shack. I have been interpreting that as "where you are now, is exactly where you are supposed to be." A most soothing mantra.

Six for Bliss/The Princess and the Pea.
Once again, nearly finished. I am stuck with my printer cords being packed somewhere, so that the princess herself cant be finished, but her fabulous bed is ready for her. I loved this piece! All the mattresses were a blast! It was one I could hardly wait to mess with.

The June page, that was the month all the looking turned into a tangible plan. I had found my woods.

The Land- Say it slowwww, Like an Ent

2010-10-12T06:18:00.001-07:00

Ok- I'll try and sum up, where things are so far...

Standing at the shop where I work, this tornado cloud was hovering over my property. This was Aug. 12, two days prior to when I was first quoted that everything would be set up for me. Nothing had started yet. In a fit of frustration I asked the storm to clear out some trees, so things would actually start moving. I had a flash of acres of trees on the South side being wiped out, and I quick changed my mind.

Early Sept. This freaked me out a bit. The loggers finally came, and instead of clearing a bit for the trailer in the middle, they cleared out "acres of trees on the South side"....
Much more than I felt comfortable with asking for, but I was told that they had to "sweeten the pot" to get them to come and do the work. Supposedly red pine is worth 16.00$ a cord. 55 years of growing, and thats it- what a kick in the pants. I guess i am emoting for the trees. Projecting how i would feel it someone tried to buy one of my BJP books for 100.00$ They were also given a separate 80 acres to thin out to entice them. It took two weeks for them to get what they wanted and clean up.
I handled it up until the end, where I passed one of the logging trucks on the way back from town, and I just cried.
Overall though, I have always wanted land for gardens, the self sustaining farm thing. Have been asking for it for decades. When I met this property I gave it up. I would never have been able to make that decision to log so much. So I intend to really enjoy and steward the area, gardens, nurseries, habitat etc. It's a tree farm, so it's not natures way to have such a large plot of one kind of tree.

Immediately after the clean up, a driveway was put in.

A septic.

All the roots were cleaned out and piled up. They are in a 15 foot hole.

For scale. They burn these things in the winter. Totally scares me, so huge and alien.

My family came out to see, mid sept- That's me and one of my sisters out walking in the back yard. I am thinking I will set up a labyrinth back there. That way the Red's get to be part of a garden too.

Avoiding my To Do list. I whipped up this denim quilt one weekend. I have been camping at the shop since late August waiting for things.

Twilight. Stopped by the property after a trip to Itaska Park with my Dad. So many large trees there. The oldest=300 yrs old. Found myself mourning the "mature" trees that were taken by the loggers. Sat in the dark and listened to them humm in the wind. I will be happy there with them when all is said and done (sooner would be better LOL-it is Minnesota!- Brrr) Word is the trailer is to be moved this month- Hopefully I will be moving in by Halloween.... In Entish, that means "in just a sec."

The Job

2010-10-10T06:55:00.001-07:00

Thank you all for posting comments! :)

Just finished writing an artists grant, I'll be making an accordion book of the Crow Wing River for 2011. I am close to wrapping up several other of The Augury pages, so all in all I feel more connected to the BJP than I have in a while. It's a good feeling. :)

For Gerry- I have a few minutes here before I drive Dad down to Rochester Mayo for his check up- He had a shoulder replacement surgery back in August. I have discovered that family takes up a ginourmous amount of personal and work time, that I never experienced with friends. I wouldn't change it for the world though. Have had a wonderful time with my niece this summer also. It's really the reason I moved up here, besides my life long desire to return to rural living. Which brings me to the "vehicle" that has helped make that all possible....

This is an M35. I just finished a cargo cover just like the one you see on the truck. It's a heavy military grade treated canvas, and it weighs about 55 lbs finished. I call it the MONSTER. Lucky for me they only come up every three months or so. That is the largest piece I work on. The outfit that I work for "New Life Canvas" is a small home based buisiness here up in Huntersville that makes antique military canvas items (seat covers, cargo covers, tops, backs, doors, etc) for vintage and demilitarized vehicles. (Trucks, jeeps, and we will be moving into rarer vehicles this winter) We are one of 3 outfits that do it, and I believe one of them is in europe. So it's really specialized stuff, but the market is steady. It surprises me sometimes how many enthusiasts are out there fixing up these old beasts. They are just as much their babies as our beading is ours!
I love the job! The girls I work with are great, the hours are really flexible, everything I am learning here translates to tents, covered wagon covers etc, so there room to branch out.
It's an interesting dynamic to be sewing such large items by day and then with my book with all it's tiny detail by night.
I hope to get Five for Heaven wrapped up this week, so until next time
Peace! T

Found The Feathers- It is Done!

2010-10-09T09:32:00.001-07:00

All the elements are finally there. I found the feathers, and I resolved the issue of the figures... gingerbread Hansel and Gretel!
So my blogging this summer has been lame, but my beading has continued on, and the posting of the rest of the pages will commence shortly. Thanks for your patience, it's been a wild summer.

Just thought I would share this

2010-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

I really like what she has to say. My sister is a professor at Concordia college and teaches italio print making and book making, and she posted this on Facebook this morning. It really resonated with me. I think what she has to say is important for both students and seasoned artists. A good reminded for all. :)

Kiki Smith
LMAO

Welcome to my parlor

2010-06-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

I finished up the beading on the canopy- very relaxing and trance like=the fabric offered up the a color scheme to follow, and I had two mini mix bags of greens that totally matched. I bought them off Brenda years ago when she was selling beads at Pink Moon Hallow. Totally effortless as everything was there and I didn't have to think about any of it.

Set of to tackle more challenging projects after (the pattern and construction of the cover of the book) and 'LO, the missing yellow beads! For two months I searched and sweated over these... Back to the Fisherman and his Wife!

A peek, just because. I picked up this brocade in the spring for the backing of the pages. black and metallic gold. Hard to translate in a photo, but it's really nice :) I thought it might give me a boost at the time, but I still kept falling behind with my pages. It does make me happy whenever I look at it, so it has purpose even though it's not in production yet.

Spent a day on the cover- Originally was thinking it was going to be beaded and have real crow feathers, but as I put it together the simplicity of the design won me over- The fabric on the left will be the cover fabric. I have two pieces of peltax for the front and back covers each, and I will be gluing them together for stability. The top piece on the front is cut out so the image, (glued to the bottom piece) will be in reverse relief/applique.
It came together really quite nicely, except that I printed the title and poem last winter on the store bought silk. I dont know what the deal with it was, but I had to spend some three hours, peeling tiny tiny pieces of the paper off by scraping (super carefully) with my tiny Gingers- what a pain in the a**. Once again, I will never go back to the store silk... cottons and freezer paper all the way!!!

And now for something exciting, the land is agreed on and should be signed on around the 21st of July. Looking to have my trailer set up mid August if all goes well.
Hazy day, but there are the trees. Looking in from the outside. They were being prepared for logging at some point, so they where shaved. When you are in among them it is very strange and wonderful. Reminds me alot of the forests in Kay Neilson's work with all the vertical imagery.

Stress purchases:) I got 8 chicks at the L&M last month for good luck. 7 cochin banties, and this is Sam, a Rhode Island Red pullet. She was and impulse buy. I had a flash of our Sam from childhood and had to recreate it. Threw a prayer to the universe that I would get my Sam back, and the first 2 pullets he caught, escaped...:) I got my Sam :)

A boy named Sarah...
I only intended to get a few chicks, but the sales guy was lonely, and I dont think anyone had really listened to him in awhile. I listened and he talked and talked and talked, and then ended up giving me a bunch of free chicks... and what good chicks they turned out to be! Sarah is my rooster and is as just as calm as Sam. Tame Tame Tame. Currently boarding them with my bosses chickens.
As you may have noticed, there is a gender blurr with the chickens names... Ill have to think of a funny name related for the coop.

here I opened wide the door,

2010-06-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

HI! :)
I havent been posting enough! I agree!
My sister's arrival here in Minn. in March(full house), and the day job, April 1st=(back to real world hours=OH, and $$$'s-love my job=total blessing!) have both thrown me off my art routine.
I have also been looking at properties this last month or so (first time home owner- boy, that's way more exhausting than I ever would have guessed!)
I have been stitching, but it has been scattered and I have been falling behind- I got it in my head that I couldn't post partials... silly bird! The Augury has become a magical piece for me. The themes/meditations that I planned for each month are unfolding in my real life so unexpectedly and wonderfully that I am keeping a journal as things go on, so when I do blog I can recall correctly- I have chosen to been faithful to the monthly meditations I had planned for the journal, so I have both the May/Fisherman and his Wife and June/Princess and the Pea started and in process, and I am still wrapping up Hansel and Gretel from March. I am juggling several pages at once, less focused than one at a time, but way more colorful!
I will post this note and some process pics on my blog for you and the others that have come tapping. :)
Peace T
Here's a more fleshed out version of the big tree in 4/Hansel- sari silk yarns couched onto the tree.

Five for Heaven/Fisherman and his Wife-here you see the fisherman chatting with the magic fish

6 for bliss/Princess and the Pea- the bed!!! I was so excited to get to this one! All the color! :) I decide that the bed post would be trees, here is one of them- I got turned around and beaded one completely backwards and have to redo the whole tree. Measure thrice should be my motto, hey! but my garbage is gorgeous! :))

This will be the view of the canopy, and what is what i am working on now- I do most of my beading on weekends that I have free-(less mistakes when I am fresh) but this canopy piece is more fun than packing, so I have been plinking away at it more regularly lately.

Lastly- Sanity Breaks- me and the Jou Jou kayaking on the.... get this, ... Crow Wing River... I **** you not, this is where my job, and the land showed up. No one needs to worry about me, my life has been crazy happy cool! Major changes, I get tired and peter out a bit, but I am doing great. Promise to post more frequently if you dont mind the disorder:)

Four for a Boy/Hansel and Gretel

2010-04-25T06:31:00.001-07:00

This page, even though simpler than the others, has taken me much longer to finish. It has sat at "almost ready" for weeks now. I will blame it on the meditative theme.
First, I will mention that this is the page that opened the door to uniting the crow poem with fairy tales. It was born with the idea that it was the crows that ate the bread crumbs that Hansel left. From there I matched up the fairy tales and the numbers from the poem, and have worked chronologically.
So, back to my meditation. I started with Orange, the next chakra in the sequence, and the number four. Four is a foundation number and the Orange Sacral chakra, is the ruler of sexuality, sensuality, and most importantly in this case, creativity. Orange is a color I don't often use, and alot of what I have in my stash was given to me over the years in gifts and trades from other artists, as I rarely buy it. I started noting where, when and buy whom, I had been given all the orange beads, fabrics, rhinstones, etc. that I was using, and I opened a meditation on gratitude, a blessing for all the creative people in my past that had supported me and my art, a blessing for the Augury, and a blessing for all future endeavors, and people in my life.
I once got "lost" driving in southern Minn, and ended up at the Jeffers Petroglyphs. It is said that the center of the stone is the center of the universe, and if you stand there, All will hear your prayer. I had made a blessing for all who had engaged me in my past, blessed the present, and blessed everyone who was yet to come into my life. Within a week, my life had completely changed suddenly and profoundly, but infinitely for the better. It occurred to me that this arty meditation was very similar, and I was having some of the same feelings I had had when I was heard at the petroglyphs. Evidently, once you have been heard, they continue to listen, as once again my life has completely changed.
In the spirit of this peace/piece, I hope my good fortune is yours as well. :)

Detail of the Witch's house. I opted out of having actual figures in this page. I vascillated for weeks on it, but I finally decided it would be too cluttered, and the figures would have to be so simplified that it really didn't matter.
Also, I was given some feathers by a friend that are earmarked to go in this piece ( they are currently somewhere "safe" from the cats...lol, when I find them , they will be lined up with the trees.) They are from a "red" bird, but the feathers are actually orange, ha! They arrived while I was working on encompassing past and futures in my meditation. Needless to say, I was very amused to be having orange gifts from a new friend that I haven't even met in person yet. Very Cool!

Detail of the flying crow.

It seems this is a page I will be coming back to. I think the trunk of the tree in the front looks unfinished, maybe some couching to get some bark texture going on. Plus I had to use the cheap camera for these pictures, so a reshoot is in order at some point.
Right now, I just want to get myself back into a work schedule with this book. I found a fantastic black and gold brocade for the backsides of all the pages this weekend, Iv'e got this posted (as is), and I hope to get Five for Heaven started today. It's rainy, and I seem to be feeling inspired and focused enough to get the ball rolling again. :)

Easter Dragons

2010-04-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

A video I made of my niece and myself over Easter weekend. We enjoyed the movie, and I made up a mock interview about it while we waited for the rest of the clan to come in from the country to come swimming. Edited it through my i-movie. She's a hoot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9P2Tpp-wfc

March was a lion of a month- I talked at Concordia College in Moorehead, to an Artist Bookmaking class. I learned I could talk for 2 hours without running out of things to say. A few days later my sister left NE, and came the rest of the way home, so it's been a full house. Ive been bouncing between March and April's pages when I have time, but havent been as focused as I was when it was -20 below...LOL!

Oh yeah, I start a job try out in the morning, working for a lady that designs and sews canvas tops for restored military vehicles. It was funny, cause I was making a "Hot Lips" MASH joke on the way there. I had heard she made awnings (that's some other guy) So I hope that works out. I would really like a job, and it seems like a fun one for me. I could branch out to covered wagons and tents for all the recreationist people! What a gas!

3 For a Girl/Red Riding Hood

2010-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

3rd page- An Augury of Crows

The first two pages are primarily neutral colors: One for Sorrow= black and white, and Two for joy= white. Three For A Girl/Red is the first representing a chakra color, the following pages will run the spectrum r-o-y-g-b-i-v also representing chakra colors.
I drew up Three/Red without the wolf, because of the Root chakra(red) being about fears and feeling safe in the world. My own experience is that most of what we fear is self created in our minds. "something bad is going to happen." I decided years ago I needed to take responsibility for the way I was reacting to my environment. I wanted to be/feel sovereign. Recognizing that life is experience: "it will pass, I will grow, it will get easier", was the wisdom I adopted/accepted that I applied to my life whenever I felt I needed to find a new balance and serenity with myself. Also, I have nothing against wolves, and think they get as bad a wrap as crows as being the vermin of society. Another reason not to cast the wolf into the piece as a villain.
Three/Red turned out to be an interesting piece for me. Where Two/Snow Queen was more of an obsessive compulsive narrative, it had an idea that consumed me a bit (balancing dualities), but was almost purely a technical piece. Three/Red was a much more relaxed and peaceful creation, I had a clear image idea, and was confident with the subject matter (freedom and wholeness), but it became very personal, and if not a journal of my literal experience, certainly one for my sister.
The last three weeks I have spent alot on time on the phone with my youngest sister. She got a temporary job watching a store for friends, so we were free to talk and keep each other company while she processed what she needed to do in her life,and I worked on Three/Red. I actually finished Red on 03/03/2010, something of a trinity, and I hope a good omen. I finished it at 7am, after navigating my sister and her horse trailer, out of South Texas, and away from an 10 year old abusive relationship. (Verizon will get a testimonial out of this!-16hrs, and we never got dropped! I couldn't believe it!) She drove, cried, vented, laughed, and readied herself for her new life. I listened, navigated, kept her awake, and stitched Red into completion.
After years of saying she was going to leave, she actually did it! What an interesting experience to have happen, while I worked on this particular subject.
She's "in the wind", and the wolf never made it into the cut...Whoo Hoo!

Disclaimer! I apologize to all wolves and all canid cousins for my prior remark regarding any resemblance or associations with He That Will Not Be Named.

Detail of two of the crows. As I get further into the book, the amount of crows per page is going to be increasing. I think I will miss all the piecing, as I am guessing that more and more, they will be represented as a single fabric silhouette.

Detail of Red. Managed to turn out OK, with the warping in her face. Hopefully I wont have that happen again.

Full Moon Frisbee

2010-02-28T13:33:00.001-08:00

My pal Bijou, out for some fun this morning. I like the hole in the center..."all the better to see you with..."

I am getting close to the end page three "3 for a girl/ Red Riding Hood." :)

Just the crows left, which segues nicely into....

The Great Winter Crow Show!

I'll be dropping off Sakura Crows, at the Spirit Room in Fargo on Wed. The show opens on the 6th, and funs till early April. If I had found this flier earlier I would have posted it, it's too late to enter now, but it's the only poster I could find.:(

Sakura Crows

Sakura Crows-22X33 wall quilt. Essentially the mother of what I am doing now with the Augury. I started with a plain quilt, the 22X33 piecing of Mt Fugi, as the backdrop. Then cut out peltax for the tree, covered that with black velvet, then encrusted that with glossy black 15's, 11's, and 8's. The crows are printed silk drawings, that were encrusted with matte 15's. The 100 cherry blossoms are all french wired clear 11's and 15's, I used threads for most of the colors. I made it last year for a bead challenge. It turned out to be just that. The symbolism of crow (change) and the Sakura tree (the transience of life) were events I was actually experiencing in my life at the time. It was both intense, and fulfilling that I had such strong creative intent coming through me. It balanced the upheaval I was experiencing. Stumbling into grace.

A little RED for valentines and playing with the printer

2010-02-18T10:28:00.000-08:00

I finished Two for joy/Snow Queen before the weekend thinking I might be going down to the cities to visit friends. My plans were foiled by the car (the wiper motor froze up), so I stayed home and decided to play with reds and the valentine theme.

First up is "Your the Best Friend I Ever Had" a new sleeve for a flask. After the "Whale of a Tale" was admitted to the State Fair, and was so well received, I decided that I would make some more. I would like to sell them on EDSY, so the trick is to make them fun, but still affordable. I have a tendency to put so much work into pieces, that it isn't worth selling them in the end. I have to really focus on simplifying and letting it be.

"Your the Best Friend I Ever Had"

This is a piece I started late this summer, I added the finishing touches at christmas when i was in that wave of finishing things for the new year. I just got new flasks in the mail last week, so I am ready to start fitting them, and then they will be done.

"Lotus"

Ok, more on the adventures of fabric in the printer. Thanks everyone for all of the advice! This round was still with the Photo Fabric. I have enough of it for one more character. Turns out there really isn't a whole lot on a roll, so the big relief I am having, is the suggestion from Gerry to try cottons through the printer that have been stabilized with freezer paper! I'll be trying that soon, but for now I just wanted to get to it (went into a RED obsession) I figured I would work with what I already knew to start with. Red was an attempt in getting the colors more saturated, both in the drawing I started with, and the density of ink that I was asking the printer to apply. I am satisfied for the moment- the colors were bordering on garish on the paper copies, but I still found the colors on the photo paper more subdued than I wanted, even though I liked the result better than what I had with Gerda.
one of the printed drawings

I also have a bit of an issue with the thinness of the silk, as I am going to have to stitch Red down in such a way as to round out her face to keep the fabric taut. Laying flat after the stitching , her face has waves in it that I don't care for.
"Red Riding Hood"

Photo fabric for inkjet/Gerda

2010-02-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

"Photo Fabric" comes in a roll, I got mine at Joannes. I started with a sketch where I had fleshed out the faces of the main characters, and I scanned the details into my printer. Then I cut a piece of "Photo Fabric" off the roll, and loaded it into the printer. I used a scrap piece of paper to hold it down, and then printed 2 copies.
Here's the sketch.

I cut the printed image to size, in this case enough to wrap around a piece of peltax cut to fit her image. I found that the printer prints light, so the next time I use it I will most likely exaggerate the colors.
Also the ink bleeds a bit onto the threads, black ink/white floss...:(
It's not noticable with colors, but on a white piece like this I did have a Hmmm..??!? over it.

Then I layered her outfit on, like I was dressing a paper doll. The Queen was assembled the same way, and the Troll was just emroidered.

The Nuthead

2010-02-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Just a wee post on honor of the nuthatch. A clown on the feeder, and my coffee clutch favorite.
An in progress piece- I just fiddle around with this guy when I need a break from the larger projects.

One of my buddies.

A drawing from 3-4 years ago.

A detail from my "Dad's Ojibway Lake" quilt. circa. 2002

Fanfare! and Drumroll please...
And now for something completely different!

And a link to White ravens-SOO COOL!
www.vancouverislandbirds.com/Journal255.html

Two for Joy/The Snow Queen

2010-02-12T14:58:00.001-08:00

Snow Queen detail.

Running ahead of schedule, and still surfing a big wave of creativity. It's been cold, and the color palate with this piece mirrors my real time experience, pun intend! I'll be happy to change colors for sure, but in the meantime, I will just keep my fingers moving to keep warm. I am really pleased with how this turned out, and happy to be done, it turned out to be more intense than I originally anticipated.

Crow detail. I like this guy, he makes me laugh. He's the one that let Gerda into the Queen's palace.

Gerda detail.

Kai and his crow

A link to the story of the Snow Queen.
http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/972/

January Page Done-One for sorrow

2010-01-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

I mentioned earlier that the physical process was a bit like lasagna, adding layers on top of layers. I finished out the landscape with a single tree, and a single crow. The tree is various wools and flosses couched over the quilt. While I was finishing this page up, I was reaching for what the next page was going to be. I said to my sister the other day, " once this piece started I have had a clear idea of the cover, the first page (illusion of separation) and the last (completion and unity), but I have no idea what to depict in between." The next day we got word from my other sister, that my niece has been asking for more stories of trolls. I started researching them, and ran into one of my favorite illustrators (Kay Nielson). I wanting to make an troll book for my niece I was so inspired..... trolls, crows hmmmm. Hansel and Gretel leaving bread crumbs, could it have been ... crows?!? Red Riding Hood through the woods, might there be crows? AhHA!
EUREKA!
I lined up various fairy tales with the numerology of the crows, and it's going to work. Then I had a idea that I could use a color scheme roygbiv, like the charkras rising up through the book. They line up perfectly! I love that, it's like the book has already been made, I just had to stumble on it by added layers of ideas.

Finished out the crow with backs and fronts of a brocade fabric, beads for eyes and toes, fluffy embroidery for his shiver, and the piece de resistance- a patent leather beak!

Up next,
Two for Joy
The Snow Queen

Landscape- Page I - "One for sorrow"

2010-01-28T12:43:00.001-08:00

I quilted the crazy quilt sky, its all black on black. Then again black on black beading and embroidery over the sky area. I switched to whites, crystals, and ABs over the snow drifts. They too were quilted a bit. Once the embellishing was done, the snow pieces were appliqued onto the page quilt block. The setting is complete, now I need to create the characters.

Detail.

Detail.

Detail.

Detail.

The Pod Squad

2010-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

I'll start with beauty and inspiration. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Frida! I strive to create imagery that pops with color and contrast in my work. I have considered a self portrait in the style of Frida's work. Cats instead of monkeys, but I thought it would be a fun endeavor in textiles. Before that though, I have to make myself a rebozo. They are traditionally woven, but I'll do something else. I'll stick with the red, then I can wear it in the portrait.... pipe dreams, or will I actually get do it.?!

Then there is function. The rebozo is also used to hold your baby while you work.
Hmmmmm....

I was given a wool wrap from a friend of mine. Not a real reboza, but look! It works! A little practice and the "helpers" can be as close as they need to, with out getting in the way.
Midna, pod perfect after one or two (or ten) taps to keep her fingers off the thread.

Gellies, Pod expert, he doesnt even care about swinging at my work anymore, he just wants THE POD.

Ignore the pot belly, X-mas lingers on my waistline, I'll blame it on the buddha and Ganesh and call it lucky:)

More Like Lasagna than a sandwich :)

2010-01-16T19:18:00.001-08:00

1st page. An Augury
"One for sorrow"

The next stage.
A night sky.

I have collected a plethora of black fabrics that were set aside for a big Ganesh piece. Since I failed to get the grant, the large size quilts are still on hold. Might as well use them for my precious crows, and manifest more later.
I love the crazy quilt, and the fabrics I have are all varied. I have yet to learn how to use stabilizers, so I sewed the pieces directly onto the quilt page. When I am done none of original page will be visible, an open secret.

Here's the night sky page. The moon is a reverse applique.

Next I am creating snow drifts. Which will be layered onto the night sky, after beading. I wrap fabric around peltax sewing it on the backside 1/4 inch seam allowance. See right side.

A couple of finished pieces, with highlight pieces layered onto them, on the left.

It's the big white North up here. I love it. Even with all its white, it's dark. It's silent and frozen, and if you have ever felt alone, this is the season that embodies that sensation of isolation. I love the opportunity that is offered to go within, to be the hermit, the witch, the mage. Embrace the stillness, inside and out.
I find that January is appropriate for the first page of the Augury. The first line is "One for sorrow." I am quite happy actually, but my experience is that sorrow is born of the idea of separation. A single gregarious crow, separated from its flock, a human separated from spirit. This is my meditation as I create this page.

Finally a decision

2010-01-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

After I finished Moon Song last April and my computer died, I really didn't give much thought thought to the Bead Journal Project. I had completely fallen out of the loop, was done with that monster project, and I was free. I went from April till the end of July without any internet connection. I didn't miss it. I played with a few smaller projects, but really took a break from any serious commitments. I got a new computer at the end of July, and I spent most of my time over the next few months learning its ins and outs, pretty successful there. Applied for and wrote for a couple of grants, not so successful there, but it was a great excersize in self awareness. I got me started on the road to journaling again.
Last month on Facebook, Robin announced that it was the last day of registration for the Bead Journal Project ( A group of creative individuals, that pool their beading experiences together, creating a community of artists. We each attempt to bead a monthly journal page to share, over the next year.) It had literally been months since I had thought of it. I had started a dream journal, and was keeping a day journal along side it just to observe serendipity. Hmmm, it seemed obvious that I was to make a beaded dream journal. So I signed up.
Now it's a full month since then and I am just getting started. I had another piece, An Augury (of Crows) that was also staged for this year. Not related to BJP. I have spent the last month vacillating over fabrics, sizes, which book, which page, boy you name it. I couldn't sort any of it out. I finished old projects, I watches movies, I took up skiing, anything I could, to get away from these two ugly embryos.
Last night I dreamed I was fighting a demon. We battled on through several settings until it reached a level of ridiculousness that I couldn't take it serious any longer. The tenor of the dream shifted, and my foe and I started play fighting and just screwing around. It was just me fighting with myself the whole time. I woke up, the force was with me! I threw everything aside, and opened a brand new bag of white muslin and started cutting. Finally! I am back in the game!

An Augury- the backbone
I pulled out some fabric that was given to me years ago, by a country friend of mine. It's not the kind of print I generally use, but I loved the idea of it being used INSIDE this piece. I am using it just as basic foundation for the pages, but I love it's rural, nostalgic and abundant imagery.

I cut the fabric into 23X18 inch squares, and ran a quick meander over them to hold the page together. I used RED thread. To me that symbolizes flow, the removal of obstacles, and the root chakra happy and safe in this world. I completed 8 pages before I ran out of batting, plenty enough to get started. I have thumb nails of some of the imagery for the Augury. I hadn't actually imagined that this would be the book I would be doing for the BJP, but it's the one that's started. I will probably end up doing both of them in tandem the same way I am with the written journals, not what i really had intended but..... once again, it's all just guidelines!

Mr. Gellies Extraordinaire... I have his seal of approval.

Joshua Klein on the intelligence of crows | Video on TED.com

2010-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

Joshua Klein on the intelligence of crows | Video on TED.com

Two UFO's finished for the new year!

2010-01-05T08:20:00.001-08:00

I had hoped to get these pieces done by the new year, but I have been running behind since about a week before Christmas. We even got snowed in for the holiday so there was no real excuse, I just stalled out for awhile. In the end, I finished them yesterday, which was my birthday, and the official end to the holidays. So let the New Year begin with new projects, new ideas, and a 6 month ticket to the salad bar!

ORION AND THE BULLS

The Bulls have been floating around for almost three years. The original design was one of those effortless pieces born out the idea that my situation at the time was prospicious to everyone. I had high hopes for a turn in my finances that year, unfortunately that hope never materialized in the way that I had hoped, and the Bulls though free with the backbone of the idea, with held the meat of the piece for years. It wasn't until a few months before I moved back north that they began speaking to me, and feeding me the imagery I needed to finish the piece. I have worked off and on since then to finish them. I hope that the original feeling of auspiciousness and forward moving energy of the bulls applies itself to 2010!

BLUE LADY III- BURKA

The third in a series of Blue Ladies that I have been doing. I like the mother feeling, and blue is a nice calm safe color. Outside of that it just a thing I started doing. If a new idea pops up for another Blue Lady, I will do it. Burka strays away from the other wall hangings. She's abstract, the fabrics are synthetic, and she is embellished heavily. I like the direction I went with it. No pressure exploration with this piece. I guess in a way, being invisible to the world with out any deadlines, I was free to explore fabrics, and apply new techniques, at a very relaxed pace. I've learned more from this piece than I had anticipated in the beginning. She's the quiet, wise mother.

Sakura and Crows

2009-12-31T01:56:00.000-08:00

Sakura with Crows is a quilt I entered in the Toho bead contest, in Mpls at Bobby Beads, in April 09.
I started the first crow in December, in between preparing for craft shows. It was a bear! I was totally unsure about my approach to the whole thing. It's beaded on silk, that has gone through the printer, from a drawing I made. I was really uncertain wether or not I liked it, so it took several weeks. I didn't start working on it in earnest, till February , after I had returned from NE. I had become more at ease with all the changes going on in my life, and I just fell into it. The second Crow was finished in a week!

This is actually the first crow. Went to town on it once I made up my mind. Just as well, I only had a month and a half to complete the quilt by the time I had finally found it's flow. The sakura blossoms here are stitched with thread.-(semi-peyote I guess).

These are all french wired. 88 in all.

And finally all of the blossoms. There is 100 all together.

The second crow.

Ended up with 2nd place, and a gift certificate for 25$- very cool!:)

Dad's Ojibway Lake

2009-12-31T01:55:00.000-08:00

2002
The first quilt I made using the hand piecing pictorial technique. It's my 4th quilt, and the prequel to the Jabberwocky. Clearly influenced by Minnesota wildlife, and the beginning of a really successful roll for me.

Jabberwocky

2009-12-31T01:50:00.000-08:00

17X48X17X89L

09/2004
The first of the Mega pieces, it won an honorable mention in the APQS International Machine Quilter's Showcase in May of '05.

Pink Roses for a Blue Lady

2009-12-31T01:48:00.000-08:00

24X36

01-2005
Blue Lady I- Pink Roses for a Blue Lady

Sirena Gorda

2009-12-31T01:44:00.000-08:00

43X43

08/2005

Inspired by my sister and her stories of her trip to Mexico. Dolphins, hang gliding, sailfish...oh my!
Add a little goddess action and a restaurant called The Sirena Gorda...

Nowadays she referrs to herself as Sirena Gorda, here she is the goddess herself....

Walleye

2009-12-31T01:43:00.000-08:00

29X47

07/2005

One of my favorites. I used to hate this color, Mom used to dress me in it endlessly. Homemade double knit poly outfits all through the 70's (except for 76 and the red, white and blue).

I love it in this piece though. The colors are great, the motion is great. It's one of those pieces that practically put itself together. I don't even remembering having to adjust the design at all. Flow, flow, flow. I have had this one hanging in my office every where I have been.

Blue Lady -Boudica

2009-12-31T01:40:00.000-08:00

55X35
07/2005

Blue Lady II-Boudica

Playing about with Celtic ideas, and heroic characters.

Wolf Moon

2009-12-31T01:38:00.000-08:00

03/2006

First in a series of the Moon themed quilts, that were re-imagined into the book Moon Song. Dad has this one. The quilting is a continuous line that depicts various totem animals.

Bass

2009-12-31T01:37:00.000-08:00

57X64
08/2006

2006 was the year of fish!

Baby Mine

2009-12-31T01:33:00.000-08:00

58X65

01/2004

Baby Mine

My first venture away from cottons. This is a velvet and brocade quilt. I had not used stabilizers, so it has some interesting flow to it that the judges weren't sure they like, Ha.

The imagery came together in Dec. of 04. I had been dreaming of elephants, then I heard stories of the elephants that carried people away from the tsunami that year. I received a copy of Dumbo for my birthday in early January. The theme of the Good Mother/Protector kept percolating in my head. I went with african elephants, as those are the ones I always dream of.

A close up of the baby.

A crow feather. Back side of the quilt.

The fire. detail.

Petroglyphs

2009-12-31T01:30:00.001-08:00

Summer of '06 I travelled across the bottom of Minnesota on route to NE. Got a little "lost" on the way, and found myself at the Jeffers Petroglyphs. The first 2 pieces here have images based on what I that I saw at Jeffers.

All three are reverse applique, a technique used to make the Mola pieces in Panama. I especially love the bright colors they use, and did the same myself.

Thunder Bird

Shaman

White Horse

This image is a loose copy of the Uffington white horse in Briton.

Golden Minis

2009-12-31T01:25:00.000-08:00

7X7 08/08
Three pieces I made just to have something small that I could finish quickly, to take a break from Moon Song.

Happy Home

North Dakota inspired fields and space with a horse and a yurt.

Mule Joy

I made this one for my sister. Her mule Homer is the source of many adventures and stories I enjoy hearing about.

Chicken Boob Kitchen

This came about after a tour of Julie's house on a beading night. In her kitchen she has a chicken motif. Also she has covered one of her walls in a mosaic made from broken plates and tea pots. In the middle of the mosaics is the intact lid for the tea pot, which unintentionally looks like a boob. I was very amused. This piece was intended to bring those elements together and celebrate the silliness of the whole thing.

Two Doves

2009-12-31T01:22:00.000-08:00

12X6

This one is a UFO I finished to gift to Elizabeth for her wedding. I spent a summer out in the country, and these two mourning doves were out on the wire every morning to greet me. Originally just a wee quilt, I pulled it out of storage, whipped the edges, "bedazzled" , and then beaded it to complete it.

Sunrise

2009-12-31T01:20:00.000-08:00

Ice crystals in the air created the effect of a column of light above the sun. We saw it in the sunset on the 14th and then again his particular morning.

Ivan and Gelly by the fire.

Tubbie Toes

2009-12-31T01:16:00.000-08:00

Is that cat hair?

2009-12-31T01:12:00.001-08:00

Baby Gellies and Bibbit helping with the Pirate Poem. Fall 2007

My big helper. Gelly grown up. 2008

Ivan supervising a photo shoot. summer 2009

Whale

2009-12-31T01:07:00.000-08:00

Beaded wire whale I made back when I was playing with wire wrapped jewelry back in the 90's.

I had received a mixed bag of beads with an order of polished stones and strands. They kicked around for some time before I opted to use them. I can put herbs in the body of the whale as a sort of sachet, but mostly I just hang him in the window.

This is my first venture into beading.

Superior Necklace

2009-12-31T01:01:00.000-08:00

10/08

Playing around with bezels, driftwood from superior, and free form peyote. The center stone is a smokey quartz. Inspired by Brenda's work, and a trip together up to the big lake.

MAMMOTH QUEEN NECKLACE

2009-12-31T00:51:00.000-08:00

01/09
In December I had a vision for a textile show with elephants, something of an expansion of what I have already started with the Ganesh piece in July. Initially I was excited, but also agitated about finding the right kind of fabrics, and enough of them. On my trip to Nebraska to visit my sister the suedes I thought I would never find, started showing up in spades, as well as Ganesh reds, and ..woolly bits?....Hmmm....

I was sitting outside talking to my sis about mammoths and having wild ideas about making mammoth hides out of raw alpaca and rusty suede, and we had a small seismic event. The old farm house is on some kind of fault line, and evidently from time to time the panes in the house all get rattled. I have never experienced this, and still haven't for that matter, but the interesting thing to me was the way all the animals went bananas. I was on a roll with my "pre history pachyderm artistic communion" and all hell broke loose. It was surreal, as though the spirit of the beasts rose up out of the fields and surrounded the farm.

The rest of my vacation was all about the wooly ones.

This is a geode I found in the science museums gift shop. Strangely enough it looks like a molar from a mammoth. Being that it was the only one there that had that appearance, I bought it and made it into a necklace.
Nebraska has some of the largest mammoth and mastodon digs in the states.

Here she is...The Mammoth Queen.

The red crystal is the nod to Ganesh, and or the crow in me...."sparkles"...I may reset it someday, as it is something of a template for the design. My sister wanted to make one so I had a look at one in the store a put this together. She has since taken off with it making bling for the ponies, and perfecting the pattern. It makes mine look a bit like an afterthought on a late night out. Ha.ha.

Grimoire/Portfolio

2009-12-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

13X13 04-08

I originally started this with the quilting and embroidery in '04. It sat until last year when there was a show n New Mexico for beaded books. I pulled it out and started beading. It's meant to be a hard copy for all my work, and a much easier way to show people what I do at shows. I haven't actually started scrap booking it all in yet, and it never made it to the show, as it ended up and inch too big to be accepted.

front

back

Moon Song

2009-12-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

BJP-Moon Song-Getting Started

The most important thing I learned with the Pirate Poem, is that HOW, it is going to be assembled, is one of those things that I needed to get thought out before all the pages are finished.
With Moon Song I started with organizing the entire 12, well actually 13, pages before I started beading.
*13 round pages for fronts.
*13 round pages for backs.
*12 full moons.
* 65 moons for the moon phases on the backs...don't laugh:) I dropped images of half moons to save space and sanity.
* 26 edges
and so on....
and on....

Edge pieces...Let me explain.
Having run into such a royal pain getting the Pirate Book put together ( mind you, a square , flat book), I decided that a round book, with depth to the pages (like diaramas) was what I needed to play with next. The edge pieces form the walls of the scenes.

Sewing the front and backs of the edging together.

Example of the flat front with beading started.

Edge pieces on their way to completion. When the book is bound it will also be round, or crescent shaped, with fairy writing on top.

All the pieces, ready for assembly.

Sewing the landscape onto the finished edge piece. I have not been consistant with the order I have been assembling the pieces. I jump around alot from page to page, though I must say this one is much more like a journal than last years book.

4 of the 5 pieces sewn together.

Basic completed page. :)

BJP-Moon Song-July
THUNDER MOON

Isolation.

Last July, I came down with one of those horrible summer flus. After a couple of weeks of inactivity I woke up with a whirlwind of ideas, and leapt earnestly into the journal, and a whole new set of elephant pieces.

The inspiration for this page comes from a summer I spent in North Dakota. Big sky, wide open spaces, isolation, and storms galore!

Once, in a lull between storms, I found a swarm of dragon flies, whirling in a great spiral that went up up and up... I stood in the eye of that lazy cyclone, just watching them. I have never seen that again.

This is actually someone's photo of a thunder cloud over Omaha. Storms over the plains are often this astonishing.

Also my father, excited by my project, started taking pictures of the moon each month to send me, so begins a collaboration with my father, as well.

BJP-Moon Song-August
STURGEON MOON

Flow.

August was a month finding the flow of things with a new vigor and appreciation. I was invited to help out Brenda with the Renaissance Fair, (August page and September page were both created while I was at the fair. You can see the influence of being surrounded by all the commotion on my beading, Ha ha)

She has a beautiful courtyard with a fountain in it, and later in the month I was given a garden fountain for my home. So the theme was clear.

The inspiration for the page comes from memories on the lake, and trips to the Headwaters of the Mississippi.

Brenda's Fountain.

August is also inspired by Dad's red moon photo.

BJP-Moon Song-September
HARVEST MOON

Gifts

I love the colors that occur this time of year, and in the theme of harvest I wanted to include farmer's fields.I also added extra reds with the sumac, another one of my favorites. I wasn't interested in a cornucopia image really, but I did include apples, as it's apple season at the Co-op, and I brought apples for the elephants. Elephants did I say? Why yes have a look...

My gift for the month was the elephants. This is Jean, she came over for a close up. I must have took 200 pictures for study for my elephant quilts! I had no idea when I started that project in July, that I would have this kind of access to the real deal.

Gotta love Ganesh!

BJP-Moon Song-October
HUNTER'S MOON

Contemplation.

Trip To Madeline Island with Brenda. We missed the trees in full color, but they left their party all over the forest floor.

BJP-Moon Song-November
BEAVER MOON

Preperation
I spent November getting ready to do some christmas craft fairs. It's the time of year everything is preparing for the winter as well.

Lucky Buck.

Sunrise from Dad.

BJP-Moon Song-December
LONG NIGHT'S MOON

Openings.

I spent alot of time with people and met alot of new people in December. It was an experience of new ideas, new opportunities, and new perspectives.

BJP-Moon Song-January
WOLF MOON

Change.

January was the manifestation of all the new offered up in December. I was seeing myself in a new way, my art was taking a new turn, I was excited and nervous about embarking on what felt like a whole new life. Funny how what we ask for, startles us when it arrives. I didn't waste any time jumping into the transition, but it was a bit like a snake shedding it skin. I was restless, and I left town to go visit my family. Everything seemed the same externally, but nothing really fit quite the way it used to.

There were goodbyes as well, my beloved Bibbit passed away after 20 years of companionship.

In memory of the Bibbit. 1989-2009

BJP-Moon Song-February
SNOW MOON

Release.

February the month for love. After January and all it's change, loss and growth, I found myself relaxing into myself and my solitude. Instead of feeling lonely I actually was feeling more loved than I had in quite awhile. I guess it had that feel of coming up out of the water. The tensions and doubts I had about what directions I was taking, my grief from losing the Bibbit, the illusion of feeling separated from the people you care about all ran their course, and I found myself liberated from all this mental activity of trying to do everything right. I found peace, love, and a quiet side of myself that transcended all of chaos.

Dad's picture of sun dogs in February. Not the moon, but the same thing happens at night.

BJP-Moon Song-March
CROW MOON

Expansion.

March was a month for throwing out new dreams, or more specifically embellishing on some of the old ones, but it was a new me that expressing the desire for them. The quality/clarity of the energy that I was playing with in my imaginings and my work was very engaging and exciting. I loved the crows in this piece, they invoke humor, hope, and abundance. They give the page it's life. I had beaded the sky with 11's left over from the Pirate Poem. This was actually one of the first skies I did for the book. I had looked at it for a long time without knowing what I wanted to do with it, and thought repeatedly to rip it out. I didn't really recognize myself in the work, I had done it so long before. In the end it was fitting, the new and old versions of yourself integrated working together.

It's the first physical reference to Chateau Le Paws (my dream home).

I also complete Sakura Crows in March, so Crow Moon really did live up to it's name.

Dad's Crow Moon.

BJP-Moon Song-April
PINK MOON

Rebirth.

Pink Moon was actually the first moon I had assembled. I didn't start journaling moons till July. So I had the basic page together, along with crow moon, long before I really started playing with imagery. Crow Moon was the sort of the clunky start, Pink Moon is much smoother. I pressured myself to get it right with the sky as, it was Brenda (her shop is Pink Moon) that got me started with all this beading and craft nights, and I always thought of it as her moon. I didn't know what I was going to do with it until April arrived. Bibbit had passed away in January, so she was in a feather lined box up north awaiting burial. I went up to Dad's after the thaw, and we buried her under the Big Oak over by the peeper pond. Hassling tree frogs was one of her favorite things in life.

A that same week, Hexa, one of my sister's cats had kittens. Circle of life.

Bibbit"s grave under the big oak.
Dad surprised me, when I got home he had planted it full of lilies and daisies, and wrote:

HEAR YE, HEAR YE ALL YE LOVERS OF KAT........
HERE LIETH "THE BIBBIT"
PRINCESS OF CATDOM"
FLOWER OF FELINE
FRIEND OF ALL.
MAY SHE REST IN PEACE BENEATH LIBBYS LILLIES
AND THE MIGHTY OAK
I cried.
I called dibs on a kitten.

Sunrise.

BJP-Moon Song-May
MILK MOON

Graduation.

Green! Green! GREEN! This was a fun piece, though it didnt really strike me as having a lot of meaning while I was making it. I was playing with whale imagery at the time, and I was preoccupied. I had made plans to go pick up my kitty at the end of the month, but I was having this feeling that I needed to go because I wasn't going to be seeing my sister for a long time. I had been given a flask by Michelle, as I had been talking about getting together with my sisters to celebrate. I went to my nieces kindergarden graduation, and later bought a bottle of Navan (vanilla cognac-a treat I discovered at the rennie w/ Brenda) and celebrated with that sister.

Then I drove to NE. A few days after I arrived, there was a terrific storm, we danced and screamed under the rain thunder and hail, it was fantastic. The next day a cash buyer came and bought the farm. I spent the next 10 days helping her pack. That cogac came in handy.

Dad's creepy green moon, but I like it. I think he actually took this one around halloween, but I like it with the june page, green is good.
BJP-Moon Song-June
STRAWBERRY MOON

Celebration.

My niece was born under the Strawberry Moon, and this is her moon, and is pretty literal. She is the only man cub in the family, so this part of journal is for her, although I have 2 kitties under the moon. Turns out I couldnt separate the two kittens. May have had something to do with the separation I was facing with my sister moving to Texas, but then again, just look at them.

Ivan and Midna, the new arrivals.

Another from Dad.

Bead Journal Project-Moon Song:The Full Monty

I CANT BELIEVE I ATE THE WHOLE THING!

Dad and I build the stand together. It's made of diamond willow, and it has a cherry base.

Another angle, in the sun.

Turning the pages.

Exposed on the back of each page is the title, the constellations, and the phases for the next moon.

Pirate Poem

2009-12-30T23:16:00.000-08:00

North

2009-12-30T23:12:00.000-08:00

99X103 01/02

North. My first quilt.

The colors are cool, icy, and frosted, and the geometry of the stars are rigid and still, everything frozen. It's my winter quilt.

I was spending the winter of 01-02 up north at my parents cabin, recuperating from surgery. By early January I was getting stir crazy, and my aunt encouraged my to join her at her place to do some quilting. This was the pattern I picked out. We went out and I started choosing fabrics, and I have continued to this day to be fascinated and excited by the beginnings of a project.

Gilded lilies I quilted into the top border of the quilt. I like the effect, but the metallic threads are scratchy, and I decided that the quilt would be more comfortable without the lilies running throughout the entire quilt.

Another view- the back side is sky fabric, imagery that invokes sleeping under the stars/sky and the idea that the sky is the limit. After being holed up at the cabin mostly immobilized, freedom and expansive spaces were ideas that I was drawn towards.

Sumac Sunrise

2009-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

79X84 04/02

Sumac Sunrise courtesy of the collection of Heidi Goldberg

Crazy quilt and applique.

This quilt marked the beginning of a new path for me. Free form piecing and design. It marks the end of my having much use for patterns. Not to say I haven't run into a few walls for having made that choice, but I have loved the journey.

Yggdrasil

2009-12-30T23:08:00.000-08:00

82X93 01/05

YGGDRASIL- the Norse world tree

A winter quilt. Kind of reminds me of a Jagged Old Woman dancing in the wind.

The borders are copied off Viking stave church ruins, and the quilting depicts the stark northern landscapes of the arctic.

Pinapple

2009-12-30T23:04:00.001-08:00

77X84 08/05

Loved the jewel tones, wanted to try paper piecing. It reminded me of the stained glass windows at the church that I went and sat in at my grandmothers funeral.

Bradon

2009-12-30T22:58:00.000-08:00

97X110

04/2006

Close up of the center piece, I painted the image, and doubled the batting to play with texture.

The side panels read:
BRADON The salmon of knowledge, eats hazelnuts from the tree growing around the Well of Wisdom. To eat of this salmon is to gain the Wisdom of the Ages.
The ability to navigate the emotional depths within, and open gateways between worlds. Irish Legend

White Dog Quilt

2009-12-30T22:48:00.000-08:00

80X90 02/08
This is a memorial quilt I made for my sister after Pippin passed away. It is a crazy quilt/rag quilt, made from all the bandanas that both Pippin and Bunny wore while they were here. It has a cotton batting, and a flannel back.

I variegated each block, crazy block, story block. The story blocks are appliques of silly stories about the dogs.

A close up of the center reveals couched mohair/silk portraits of Bunny and Pippin.

Karen and her new Quilt.

Pippin (1999-2008)

Bunny(1989-1998)

The quilt with the Papps, Boo Boo and Ting, new love from the new dogs. Karen informs me that this quilt has become a fixture in all her travels. A talisman and comfort to her when away from home.

Dad's Quilt

2009-12-30T22:46:00.000-08:00

90X100 11/05

Basically a revisiting of Secret Cabin. The pattern and fabrics had been in storage for some time and were given to me to complete the quilt. Secret Cabin was made with spare fabrics, and I made my own center piece. I enjoyed this pattern in particular, as it has so many traditional designs, and blocks in it. Good homework!

Tiny Bibbit

2009-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

12X12 06/04

A little appliqued pillow portrait I made of my cat Bibbit.

Secret Cabin

2009-12-30T22:34:00.000-08:00

Secret Cabin.
80X90
02/2002
This was my second quilt. I was given a bunch of left over fabrics, and I found this pattern (Gun Flint Trail..I think) I liked it because it utilized so many block patterns all in one quilt. i thought I could learn alot from it.

The center piece in the pattern was a pre printed enter piece that was provided with the pattern. It wasn’t until I pieced the same kit for my father did i actually see it. The centerpiece here is one that I put together. It’s all appliqued, and basically an homage to the blessings I received by landing at a cabin up north to recuperate at.

"I once dreamed of having my own cabin, a peaceful place where I would feel safe and rested. In my time of greatest need, it arrived, and there I lived and healed for a season. It is gone now, yet I am still here, healed rested, safe, and peaceful. It was a good dream."

APPLE SCREEN SAVER

2009-12-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

19X13 08/09

I got my Mac in late July. I rent a room, so it's set up where I sleep. My friend Dorine is a feng shui practitioner, and she heard about this. She suggested that I cover the Mac at night with red, for less energetic interference while I was sleeping. I was immediately inspired to make something special for my Mac. I love my Mac!

The quilt would actually be too warm for the computer, so I am using to image as the screen saver. Intent is everything:)

WHALE OF A TALE 4oz. flask

2009-12-30T22:24:00.000-08:00

Accepted to the Minnesota State Fair.

Whale of a Tale/flask... entered in Class 7 - Textiles/Fibers was accepted into the 2009 Fine Arts Exhibition, Minnesota State Fair!

Woo Hoo!

The picture story is loosely based on the big adventure I had with my sister in the spring. I made it to CELEBRATE all of our lives, and the stories we have to tell for making it this far.... Cheers!

RED MOUSE PHONE BAG

2009-12-30T22:19:00.000-08:00

03/07

I made this for my phone.

Grackle in the Chimney

2009-12-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

I was working on a quilt one morning, and I kept hearing this noise. After a bit, I discovered that a bird was stuck in the chimney, and was flapping around in the flue. It took me some time to figure out how to get him out. The longer it took, the more determined I became, as I had started to identify with him, ever been anxious about your finances? At any rate, after about an hour of dinking around, I discovered a small trap door at the bottom of the closet (in another room...?) that opened into the flue.

The bird, (turned out to be a grackle) leapt at the light of freedom I had created, and led me on a merry chase through the house. I eventually caught him and took him outside, quite pleased with my heroic good deed. When I released him, he stalled for a second, looked me right in the eye, a screeched at me, as though I had brought the whole thing on him. So much for gratitude, Ha.

This was the second piece that I entered in the Crow Show in Fargo.

Crow Woman

2009-12-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

99X97
0 3/2006
One of my babies that I will never sell. This is a queen size quilt with alpaca wool batting. Big warm and magical. She is part of a moon series that I started in 06, that got transfered to the moon book to cut down on the scale. She's a March moon=Crow/Worm moon. It's the time of year for rebirth, the melting of winter and the waking of the work of the worms. The backside is a flame fabric that I associate with the core. Mother earth's , and our own.

I LOVE this show, unfortunately they only hold it once every other year. Crow Woman was finished in 06, but I missed entering her in time. Lucky for me, they let me enter 2 pieces in 08.

EDSY Account:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CrowWoman88

ARTIST"S STATEMENT

The inspiration to express myself with quilts comes from its function in both the spiritual, and the physical. I started quilting with traditional pieces, and was immediately reminded that the process is a meditation for life. It begins with an idea, a direction, a choosing of colors and textures, letting that take form, and then each stitch becomes a step on a path towards a goal. I love that the materials are traditionally used to warm and adorn the body and home. The needle is the extension of myself that binds all the elements together, it walks the journey with me. I am free to do as I please, I allow unexpected changes guide me in new directions, and I let mistakes teach me what I can get away with. "It's all just guideline anyways !" I think that's the thing that I love most about what I do. In my world of quilts, I am sovereign, and that serves to remind me, that the love I have doing my work, is the spark that lives in my quilts. I strive to express that energy in all my pieces, and I hope to inspire others to find and express theirs.

The images and themes arrive from all parts of my life. Some of the patterns that emerge in my work are symbolic, some are ideas that have stuck with me over the years, and others are still unfolding. A image or an event will pop into my head, I'll draw it out, and then start choosing the fabrics. Usually, as I am constructing a piece it is leading me to the next, like a string of stories that are all connected. Successes and failures often leap forward together into the next piece, transformed into a new technique. Every transition becomes a challenge on how do I expand on this idea, texture, color? Can I exaggerate the technique even further? I love being present and aware of inspirations as they flow through, playing with new and better ideas as they emerge. When I feel a piece has turned out really well, I know that I have exceeded what I have sent out to accomplish, and I am ready for more.

RESUME

Education
-2 years UMM, studio arts/philosophy '84- '86
-fiber classes at the APQS show' 05

Honors/ Awards
-25$ gift certificate- 2nd place- Toho Bead Challenge (March '09)
-40$ people's choice award, Blueberry Festival, Lake George, (July '05)
-honorable mention ribbon * International Machine Quilter's Showcase, Kansas City, (May'05)
-3rd place ribbon *Perham Historical Society Quilt Show, (May '02)

Bibliography
-Bead Journal Project (2007-08) Power Point Presentation by Robin Atkins
-Alternative Insights, webzine (2003)

Professional Affiliations
-Textile Center Minneapolis
-American Craft Council

Related Experience
-Artist's Show and Tell with Artists Bookmaking Class, Concordia College, Moorhead (March '10)
-Reading of the Pirates Poem, Barnes and Nobel (2008)
-Happy Faces Entertainment (2000-05)
*face painter
-Artistic Advisor/tutor (1999-05)
*collaborative costume design
*book making for kids
*sewing for kids
-Linden Hills Recreation Center(2000) Activities Coordinator
*Instructed art classes, and the summer art camps.
*proposed and organized new programs for the kids.
*evaluated children's ages and interests, and modified my classes.

Exhibitions
*A Common Thread, Textile Center, Mpls. (January '11)
*Great Winter Crow Show, Spirit Room, Fargo (March '10)
*2009 Fine Arts Exhibition, State Fair St.Paul MN (Aug 09)
*Toho Bead Challenge, Bobby Beads Mpls Mn (March 09)
*Corner House Art, Open House, St Paul (Dec 08)
*Bead Journal Project, internet, (2007-08)
*Pacodes, benefit for the Lost Boys of Sudan, Fargo MN (May 08)
*Beaded Whimsey, Textile Center, Mpls MN (March 08)
*Great Winter Crow Show, Spirit Room, Fargo (March 08)
*Open House Craft Show, Pink Moon Hallow, Mpls. MN (Dec 07)
*Exhibited at Coldwell Banker, Park Rapids MN (Sept. '06-07)
*Kari Tauring and Friends, Yuletide Celebrations, #1, #6, & #7, Mpls MN (Dec '98-05)
*Discovering Origins Building Traditions, Mpls MN ( Sept 05)
*Blueberry Festival Quilt Show, Lake George MN (July '05)
*International Machine Quilter's Showcase, Kansas City (May '05)
*Fibre Art in the 21st Century, Stillwater MN ( Jan '05)
*Open House, Hummingbird Studio, Mpls MN (Jan '05)
*Goddess Night , Mpls MN (Oct '04)
*Perham Historical Society Quilt Show, (May 'o2)